Chapter IV-3Last Months in Japan

Americans, uncertain of how the Japanese
people would accept the occupation,
had their doubts allayed within a
short time after the troops had landed
and begun fulfilling their missions.
Original Japanese qualms about associating
with their conquerors were quickly
dispelled after the children:

. . . were the first to lose their fear.
These doll-like small fry, most of them
wearing uniforms and thoroughly accustomed
to saluting, soon began to line the
streets and gaze with wide eyes at the
Marines and their vehicles. The children's
curiosity was soon shared by their elders.
Old and young alike seemed especially
amazed at the American jeeps and trucks
which, regardless of heavy rains and bad
roads had the power to travel where their
drivers took them. Bulldozers and other
earthmoving equipment brought even more
amazement. And not the least of the
startling sights were the Marines themselves.
Men with blue eyes and light hair
were astonishing enough, but red-haired
Marines were beyond imagination.1

Japanese cordiality and hospitality
became evident as the Marine occupation
forces spread out over the island
of Kyushu. Other signs of the presence
of American troops were the English
language safeguard markers placed on
churches, religious shrines, and schools,
warning occupation troops away and
exempting these places from search and trespass.

Although fraternization with the Japanese
was not permitted at first, these
restrictions were soon eased and it did
not take too long for the Marines to
learn more than they had known previously
of the Japanese way of life and
to appreciate Japanese customs and
culture. At the same time, the Japanese
were often awestruck by the manner
and means by which the Americans
could accomplish tasks which the Japanese
considered difficult but which the
Marines considered normal routine. Japanese
standards of living and efficiency
were woefully below those of the Western
world, and the former enemy nation
sadly lacked transportation and construction
equipment and tools. Most
Japanese primary and secondary industry
had been devastated in the air raids.
Besides, Japanese industrial facilities
had long been geared to the production
of war materiel rather than consumer
goods, or housing, or any of the other
products that the civilian population of
the Allies was able to obtain, even in wartime.

Japanese men and women alike labored
days to accomplish what the
Americans with their heavy equipment
and know-how could do in minutes. The
backward conditions of the Japanese
could be blamed partially on the war,
but even more so on a way of life and a
social structure that had remained
largely unchanged for centuries. Although
the opening of Japan by the West

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in the mid-19th Century caused a severe
jolt to Japanese attitudes and sensibilities,
it was nothing compared to the
changes wrought by the American occupation.

There had indeed been many changes
and much accomplished by the end of
the first few months of occupation, during
which time the occupation forces
enforced the surrender terms. The Japanese
armed forces had been almost completely
demobilized, 90 percent of the
military facilities in the Home Islands
had been razed, and approximately 20
percent of the ammunition and explosives
stored in bunkers all over Japan
had been destroyed. Eighty percent of
the war materiels and equipment still
in usable condition had been turned over
to the Japanese Home Ministry for conversion
to peacetime use.

In the 5th Division area, the 13th
Marines alone had supervised the scuttling
at sea or the destruction by other
means of 188,000 rounds of artillery and
mortar ammunition, 25,000 aerial
bombs, 1,800 machine guns, 270 torpedoes,
4,500 mines and depth charges,
83 large guns, 400 tons of aircraft parts,
30 tons of signal equipment, 650 tons of
torpedo parts, and 161 miscellaneous
types of machines that were geared for
the manufacture of war materiel. OtherVAC units completed similar demolition
missions. Even while they enjoyed their
stay in Japan and carried out their occupation
duties, "'Home, when do we
go there.'" was the single most important
topic of conversation among the Marines in Kyushu.2

By 30 November, only about 10 percent
of the Marines in VAC had been
returned to the States, although discharge
and rotation directives had made
more than 15,000 men eligible. Marine
divisions were under orders to maintain
their strength at 90 percent of T/O, and
these restrictions severely curtailed the
number of men that could be released.
Replacements were almost nonexistent
in this period of postwar reduction.
Still, the 2d Division, which was to remain
in Japan, had 7,653 officers and
men who were entitled to return home.4
To meet this problem, VAC ordered an
interchange of personnel between the 2d
and 5th Marine Divisions.

High-point men of the 2d Division
would be transferred to the 5th Division,
and men not yet eligible for discharge
or rotation would move from the 5th to
the 2d in exchange. Almost half of the
2d Division and 80 percent of the 5th
Division, in all about 18,000 Marines
and corpsmen, were slated for transfer.
At the same time that the personnel
exchanges took place, elements of the 2d
and 32d Divisions occupied the 5th Division
zone of responsibility so that the
occupation mission of surveillance, disposition

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of matériel, and repatriation
could continue without interruption.

On 24 November, control of Saga and
Fukuoka Prefectures passed to the 2d
and 32d Divisions respectively.
(See Map 29.)
In the first of a series of
comparable troop movements, 2/6 entrained
for Saga to take over the duties
and absorb the low-point men of 2/27.
The 6th and the 10th Marines occupied
the 5th Division zone, relieved units of
the 13th, 27th, and 28th Marines, and
effected the necessary personnel transfers.
The 2d and 8th Marines sent their
returnees to Sasebo, the 5th Division
port of embarkation, and joined new
men from the infantry regiments of the
5th. Separate battalions and headquarters
troops of both divisions exchanged
men with their opposite numbers.

The 5th Division began loading out
as soon as ships were available at Sasebo,
and the first transports, carrying men of
the 27th Marines, left for the States on
5 December. The 2d Division assumed
all of the remaining occupation duties
of the 5th on 8 December, and the last
elements of the 5th Division departed
Sasebo 11 days later.

Beginning on 20 December, with the
arrival Stateside of the first troopships
of the 27th Marines, a steady stream of
officers and enlisted men passed through
reassignment and discharge centers at
Camp Pendleton. During January, most
of the organic elements of the division
were skeletonized and then disbanded.
On 5 February 1946, the Headquarters
Battalion followed suit "and the 5th
Marine Division passed into history."5

On the same date that the 2d Marine
Division took over the duties of the
5th, VAC received a dispatch directive
from the Sixth Army stating that the
corps would be relieved of occupation
responsibilities on 31 December,
when the Eighth Army was to assume
command of all Allied occupation
troops in Japan, and plans were laid to
reduce American strength to the point
where only those units considered a
part of the peacetime Armed Forces
would remain. I Corps, with headquarters
at Osaka (later Kyoto), would
take over the area and troops of VAC.

The VAC spent most of its remaining
time in Japan completing its current
occupation missions, supervising the
transfer of low-point men to the units
of the 2d Division, and preparing to
turn over the area to I Corps. As had
been ordered, the changeover took place
on 31 December 1945, and VAC troops
began loading out the following day,
some units for return to the United
States and others for duty with Marine
supply activities on Guam. On 8 January,
the last elements of VAC, including
General Schmidt's headquarters,
left Sasebo for San Diego where on 15
February 1946, it was disbanded.6

Not long after the departure of VAC
from Japan, the 2d Marine Division became
responsible for the whole of what
had been the corps zone. The 32d Infantry
Division, a former Michigan-

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Map 29: VAC Deployment on 8 December 1945

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Wisconsin National Guard outfit, was
one of the Army units slated for deactivation
early in 1946. In preparation for
taking over the duties of the 32d Division
in Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, and Oita
Prefectures, the 2d Division began moving
units of the 6th Marines north to
the Army zone and increasing the size
of the areas assigned to the other regiments.
On 31 January, when the 2d
Division formally relieved the 32d, the
prefectural responsibilities of the major
Marine units were: 2d Marines, Oita
and Miyazaki; 6th Marines, Yamaguchi,
Fukuoka, and Saga; 8th Marines, Kumamoto
and Kagoshima; 10th Marines, Nagasaki.
(See Map 30.)

At this time, the 2d Division command
post was in Sasebo, and the CPS
of the regiments were located as follows:
2d Marines, Miyazaki; 6th Marines,
Fukuoka; 8th Marines, Kumamoto;
and the 10th Marines, Nagasaki.
An increase in the size and number of
areas assigned to the 2d Division meant
that Marine occupation responsibilities
were similarly enlarged. The routine of
guard, patrol, repatriation, and disposition
duties grew apace with the areas in
which they were accomplished.

A typical regimental disposition in
this phase of the Marine occupation may
be seen in the deployment of the 6th
Marines on 31 January.
(See Map 31.)
The regimental headquarters and 1/6
CP were at Fukuoka; the CP of 2/6 was
at Saga. The battalion headquarters
company and Companies K and L of
3/6 were located at Kokura; Company
I was at Senzaki in Yamaguchi Ken.
From these widely separated localities,
units of the 6th Marines maintained a
daily occupation routine that remained
largely the same until the entire division
departed Japan.

When Major General Roscoe B. Woodruff,
commander of I Corps, returned to
the United States on temporary assignment
on 8 February, Major General
LeRoy P. Hunt, Jr., the commander of
the 2d Marine Division and senior division
commander in the corps, flew to
Kyoto and assumed command of the
corps, a position he retained until General
Woodruff's return on 5 April. The
corps zone of responsibility underwent
one more change during this period.
Advance elements of the British Commonwealth
Occupation Force (BCOF)
began moving into Hiroshima Prefecture
on 4 February and formally
took control from the 24th Infantry
Division on 7 March. On the 23d, the
BCOF formally relieved the 6th Marines
in Yamaguchi Prefecture, reducing
the 2d Marine Division zone to the
island of Kyushu.

By April, it seemed that the constant
shifting of units was largely over and
that the divisions of I Corps could concentrate
mainly on reinstituting regular
training schedules. The 2d Marine Division
had been pared down to peacetime
strength by 11 February, when the
third battalion of each infantry regiment
and the last lettered battery of
each artillery battalion were relieved
of occupation duties, assembled at
Sasebo, and then sent home for disbandment.
Insofar as possible, the remaining
units were assembled in battalion-sized camp areas, which served
as centers from which surveillance of
the local zone of responsibility was
maintained. When not undertaking
occupation missions, the Marines attended

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Map 30: Deployment of 2d MarDiv, 31 January 1946

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classes in basic military subjects,
fired individual and crew-served
infantry weapons, and carried out field
exercises in combat tactics. An efficient
air courier service of liaison planes and
occasionally transports, operating out
of the Marine air base at Omura, connected
the scattered battalions and enabled
the division and regimental commanders
to maintain effective control
of their units. The Marines had disposed
of most of the Japanese war
materiel and the tremendous repatriation
flow of the first months of the occupation
had slowed. The Japanese, as well
as their conquerors, had settled into
a routine of mutual tolerance, and often
a relation much closer and stronger
than that.

Soon after General Hunt had returned
from Kyoto, he received word
from Eighth Army that the 2d Division
would be returned to a permanent base
in the United States. The 24th Infantry
Division would move to Kyushu and
take over the Marine zone. Preparations
for the movement got underway before
the end of April, when reconnaissance
parties of the relieving Army regiments
arrived to check their future billeting areas.

General Hunt planned to relieve his
outlying units first and then gradually
to draw in his men upon Sasebo until the
last unit had shipped out from the port.
Oita and Miyazaki were the first prefectures
to be handed over to the Army,
and their former garrison, the 2d
Marines--whose CP had been moved
from Miyazaki to Oita on 18 March--was
the first unit to complete loading
out. The regiment left Sasebo on 13
June bound for Norfolk, and the 8th
Marines followed soon after. General
Hunt turned over his zone to the 24th
Division on 15 June, and Marine responsibility
for the occupation of
Kyushu ended.7
Division headquarters
left on 24 June and with the exception
of service troops and rear unit echelons,
which remained to load out heavy equipment,
the major elements of the 2d
Marine Division all had departed by 2
July.8
General Woodruff attested to the
accomplishments of the 2d Marine Division
in the following farewell message
to General Hunt:

Today the 2d Marine Division comes to
the end of its long trail from Guadalcanal
to Japan. Its achievement in battle and in
occupation: 'Well Done.' The cooperation
and assistance of your splendid Division
will be greatly missed. I Corps wishes you
bon voyage and continued success in your
next assignment. Woodruff.9

As a result of the acceptance of defeat
by the Japanese, it was never necessary
to institute complete military rule.
General MacArthur's directives outlining
a program of demilitarization and
democratization were put into effect by
a Japanese Government that disarmed
and demobilized its own military forces
and revamped its political structure
without serious incident.

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Map 31: Typical Deployment of a Marine Regiment, 31 January 1946

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As MacArthur recalled in his memoirs:

From the moment of my appointment as
supreme commander, I had formulated the
policies I intended to follow, implementing
them through the Emperor and the machinery
of the imperial government . . .
the reforms I contemplated were those
which would bring Japan abreast of modern
progressive thought and action, First
destroy the military power. Punish war
criminals. Build the structure of representative
government. Modernize the constitution.
Hold free elections. Enfranchise
the women. Release the political prisoners.
Liberate the farmers. Establish a free
labor movement. Encourage a free economy.
Abolish police oppression. Develop
a free and responsible press. Liberalize
education. Decentralize the political power.
Separate church from state.

These tasks were to occupy me for the
next five years and more. All were eventually
accomplished, some easily, some with
difficulty . . . I cautioned our troops from
the start that by their conduct our own
country would be judged in world opinion . . .
Their general conduct was beyond
criticism . . . They were truly ambassadors
of good will.10

The Marines in Kyushu stood by as
observers and policemen during many
phases of the occupation operation, but
were directly concerned with others.
They supervised the repatriation of
thousands of foreign civilians and
prisoners of war and handled the flood
of Japanese returning from the defunct
overseas empire. Using local labor, the
Marines collected, inventoried, and disposed
of the vast stockpile of munitions
and other military materiel that the
Japanese had accumulated on Kyushu
in anticipation of Allied invasion.
Where necessary, they used their own
men and equipment to effect emergency
repairs of war damage and to help reestablish
the Japanese civilian economy.

Within three months after its landing
on Kyushu, the V Amphibious Corps
had established effective surveillance
over the entire island and its ten million
people and had set up smoothly
functioning repatriation and disposition
procedures. The task was so well along
by the end of 1945 that responsibility
for the whole island could be turned
over to one division. Perhaps the most
significant benefit to accrue to the
Marine Corps in the Japanese occupation
was the variegated experience
gained by the small unit leaders in
fields widely separated from their normal
peacetime routine of training and
guard duty. Facing heavy responsibilities,
the Marines' ability to adapt
themselves to new situations and learn
as they went along made the occupation
of Kyushu a success.

5.
Conner, 5th MarDiv Hist, p. 176. "Exactly
one year after the Division had landed on Iwo
Jima, Headquarters and the 3d Battalion, 26th
Marines, arrived at San Diego from Peleliu.
Disbandment came quickly for these units. The
1st Battalion completed its mission on Peleliu
in March and moved to Guam where it, too,
died an honorable death." Ibid.

8.
Before the 2d Marine Division left Japan,
it transferred 2,3349 of its men into a China
draft, which furnished replacements for the
last major Marine unit remaining in the Far
East, the 1st Marine Division.